Treasurer warns of possible unclaimed property scam

CHARLESTON – State Treasurer John Perdue’s office has issued a warning to residents not to call a telephone number that promises recipients an unclaimed property search.

“These postcards are not being sent out by the Treasurer’s Office or by any other state treasury,” Carolyn Atkinson, the Treasurer’s Office Unclaimed Property Deputy Treasurer said. “Please exercise caution if you get this mail.”

One such card was returned to the State Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Division, originally addressed to a Charleston zip code but only “General Delivery” as an address. Charleston postal workers apparently thought the card originated with the state’s unclaimed property program but Atkinson emphasizes it did not.

A prompt asks for a seven-digit personal identification number, provided on the green, two-sided card. Typing in the number results in another prompt, this one directing callers to begin an unclaimed property search at www.unclaimed.org, the official site of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.

NAUPA officials, however, have no involvement with the postcards. Association Director David Milby says he and several state unclaimed property administrators have received consumer complaints. The cards are postmarked Denver, Colo.

While NAUPA does offer links to all state unclaimed property program websites, it is not a search vehicle. That site is www.missingmoney.com, which provides constituents a nationwide database. Milby said he can only speculate as to what the card’s producers are up to, but that it has nothing to do with unclaimed property.

“At the very least it looks suspicious,” Atkinson said.

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